In the era of social media, virtual realities, and increasingly demanding audiences looking for easily consumable products through smartphones, the “All-Star Games” of major sports competitions in the United States have become a thing of the past and quickly lost relevance. The NBA and Major League Baseball had the lowest ratings for this event in 2023, while the NFL hit rock bottom this year.
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That's why the main basketball league decided to make drastic changes, asked for the opinion of key figures like Stephen Curry, and announced a new format for the "All-Star Game" of the 2024-2025 season this Tuesday.
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What are the changes to the NBA All-Star Game?
In February of this year, returning to the format of a duel between the best teams from the two conferences, the East defeated...211-186 the West, a duel where there were 289 shot attempts. A faithful reflection of an exhibition of acrobatics and dunks, without any defense resembling a basketball game.
Therefore, for the current season event, Commissioner Adam Silver and the Players Association decided that they needed to make significant changes to regain the interest of the fans.
The format of the game that will debut on February 16 in San Francisco, at the Warriors' home, will be an "All-Star Tournament", with four teams and three games: there will be three teams of eight figures each and a fourth team, the winner of the Rising Stars Challenge for first and second-year players.
"Obviously, there was an elephant in the room, ours competing. It was expected and it makes sense that they would try to change things," said Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, a likely selection for this year's game for the third time. "In the end, it will all come down to whether the players want to face off, and I would love to see that. I would love to be a part of that, for sure, and hopefully it happens."
The NBA is finally looking to find the right format
This is not the first change in the league's attempt to revitalize the "All-Star Week".
After the first 66 All-Star Games were held basically as a normal East vs. West Conference game, with four quarters of 12 minutes each, the league changed to a format where the top vote-getters from each conference served as captains who could choose the members of their teams.
LeBron James was one of the captains six times. In four of the years when the captains were chosen, the "All-Star Games" had a point goal in the match. This ensured that the winner would be decided on the last shot taken.
The game returned to the East vs. West format this year and included the record for total points, plus some stunts like these: Luka Doncic attempted a 70-foot shot, Donovan Mitchell threw a 50-foot underhand lob, Bam Adebayo bounced the ball off Nikola Jokic's backside to himself, Tyrese Haliburton attempted and made five three-pointers in a span of 92 seconds, and Damian Lillard closed the night with a 44-foot shot that wasn't even his longest of the game. Harlem Globetrotters? Yes. Basketball? Not really.
"I think something could be done about it," Lillard said after his performance that earned him the Most Valuable Player award in last year's game. "I'm not sure what, but I think there is a way to make it a more competitive game."
The league hopes to have found the answer, but there is a warning: the NFL discarded the Pro Bowl, opting for a series of skills events including a flag football game... and last year it had the worst ratings in history. It seems that audiences have definitely grown tired of these exhibition events, in any of their formats.